The 12 Days of Christmas Drabbles
by kathiann
Summary: 12 Drabbles featuring the lovely Teresa Lisbon done in the theme of Christmas Past and Present (with the hope for the Future) for the Paint It Red Christmas Challenge.
1. Candy Cane

**Authors Note: **A series of drabbles done for the Paint it Red Christmas challenge for the 12 days of Christmas. I could post one a day for 12 days, but I know me. I'll forget halfway through that I've got them all done. So, I'm posting all 12 at once.

**Candy Cane**

Teresa carefully pried the delicate candy hooks from their claw like box. She loved the look of real candy canes on her Christmas tree every year, but hatted that half the time the hooks broke before she had even had a chance to hang them on the tree. She took great pleasure in choosing exotic flavors of the candy each year. Knowing that before New Year's they would all be gone. She had discovered some favorites over the years, but she still got joy out of the simple red and white stripe that reminded her so much of her childhood.


	2. Snow

**Snow**

Growing up in Chicago, she was no stranger to snow in the winter. Long before the first snowfall melted, she was tired of it. She'd always had to walk to school in the cold, they were too close for a bus and her parents believed in the benefit of exercise every morning and afternoon. There had been snowball fights with her brothers and friends and sledding down the hill in the nearby park, but the novelty quickly wore off as her toes froze and her fingers went numb. Even now, the very thought of snow made her blood run cold.


	3. Eggnog

**Eggnog**

When she was eight her mother brought her into the kitchen Christmas Eve to learn the pinnacle of their family recipes. Her Great Grandmother's eggnog. Teresa had never cared for it, but her mother insisted on showing her how to make it the traditional way. She watched as her mother beat eggs and cream and mixed it with spices. With a wink and a twinkle in her eye, her mother told her a secret. "When you children drink it, it is missing the secret ingredient." From the cupboard above the stove, her mother brought out an old bottle of rum.


	4. Three Kings

**Three Kings**

Teresa watched the bullpen out of her office window. Her team didn't know that she was watching, and for that she was glad. Cho, Rigsby, and Jane were playing a pickup game of trashcan basketball. They were acting so much more like her brothers that it pulled at her heart. Rigsby attempted to dodge around Jane but was blocked by Cho and fell onto the couch. She chuckled. They were just like her brothers. Cho stole the ball of paper from Rigsby and did a jump shot into the can. Jane did a victory dance to celebrate. Teresa just laughed.


	5. Food

**Food**

Teresa's favorite part of the holiday season was the food. When she was young, she had watched her mother, grandmother and aunts cooking huge meals for all their families. There was turkey and stuffing and ham and sweet potatoes and the fluffiest mashed potatoes that she had ever seen. The best though were the deserts. Pies, cakes, cookies, candies. Her favorite were her mother's chocolate pecan pie and her grandmothers walnut fudge. She had her mother's recipe box, full of those delicious meals. She pulled it out on occasion and tried to make something, but it was never the same.


	6. Carols

**Carols**

Teresa stood outside the church and listened to the music wafting out into the street. _Hark how the bells._ She didn't go to church as often as she should, she knew that. _Sweet silver bells._ She always tried to come at Christmas. _All seem to say._ She sighed; it really had been too long since she'd been to church. _Throw cares away. _She slowly made her way into the church as the choir sang and the organ played. _Gaily the play while people sing songs of good cheer. _She settled into a pew, listening to the music. _Christmas is near._


	7. Decorations

**Decorations**

Teresa smiled as she pulled the box of Christmas decorations out of her closet. This was, and always had been, her favorite time of the year. The smells, the gifts, family, friends, and decorations. Green and red and stripped. All sorts of colors reflecting off of lights hidden deep within green fir branches. The ornaments in the box reminded her of home, of family. Her younger brothers, her mother and father when they were alive and happy. Paper cut outs of tiny hands and gingerbread men that had long lost their sent. They all made her smile. This was Christmas.


	8. Stockings

**Stockings**

Teresa still hung a stocking on her wall every year, even though she was the only one to fill it. When she was younger, her brothers and she would put letters and small gifts into each other's stockings leading up to the big day. When they woke and dumped out their stockings to see what was included there was always candy and an orange, but the best were the notes from her brothers and her parents, telling how much they loved her. She looked at her limb stocking, remembering those happy times. One day it would be like that again.


	9. Christmas Eve

**Christmas Eve**

Charlie Brown played in the background and cookies baked in the oven. The tree was light up and shimmering at its finest. She had a pot of her famous homemade coco warming on the stove and mulled wine beside it. Tonight her house would be full. Tonight she would not be alone. Tonight, above all other nights, she hatted to be alone. She had invited friends and coworkers to come to her home, to celebrate, to spread joy and cheer. She heard a car pull up outside. They were on their way. She opened the door to see her friends.


	10. Elves

**Elves**

"Why is there a box on my desk?"

"Santa's Elves have been here."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Since when does Santa visit middle aged women?"

"You are not middle aged, my dear. And I said elves, not Santa. Elves are much more mischievous."

"Did the elves visit you?"

"I already have all the gifts I could want this year."

"Really? There's not one thing you still want?"

"Well, there is one thing."

"What is it?"

"I can't say."

"How am I supposed to know what to get you if you don't tell me?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"I promise."

"I want you."


	11. Star

**Star**

A star once guided wise man to find the son of God. Sailors when they first started circumnavigating the globe relied on stars to tell them where they were at night. As Teresa sat staring out the window at the night sky wondered if the stars could guide a lost soul home. Too many times she had cases where loved ones were lost, not to death, but by fear. She wondered if the stars would guide her lost family home. Her brothers, her friends. All the people she had lost over the years. She wanted them to come home safe.


	12. Jingle Bells

**Jingle Bells**

Teresa had always wondered at the couples riding the open carriages in the park. She thought that it was silly, at the same time she was envious of the love that they always seemed to share. She had once thought that she would like to have someone take her on a carriage ride. She had a dream, in the cool of the winter, a warm blanket on her lap, her lover at her side. The lover was always fuzzy. Never one mad who filled the roll. She had stopped wishing and dreaming. Some things were better left in the past.


End file.
